JEFFERSON CITY — State Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, issued the following statement relating to federal funding appropriated through the CARES Act to help state and local governments address the effects of the COVID-19 virus:
“Following the passage of the federal CARES Act, Missouri lawmakers returned to the State Capitol in early April to pass a supplemental budget that authorizes the state to spend the resources it received through the CARES Act to directly address the effects of COVID-19. As part of the supplemental budget, 25 percent of the federal relief funds provided to Missouri goes directly to local counties. As a result, this vital funding should now be getting to local municipalities and nonprofit organizations in the form of reimbursements for expenses related directly to COVID-19.
“As our local and state leaders continue to address the effects of the COVID-19 virus, I will continue to work with the governor and our state treasurer to ensure these funds are quickly distributed throughout our communities to help local governments quickly recover from the effects of the virus. I am proud to be a part of the governor’s working group that has the task of tracking the status of the federal funding. Along with other members of this group, led by the state treasurer, we will meet again this week to get an update of recovery efforts, how COVID-19 testing is going and how businesses are faring through this pandemic.”